Roots by the River

Every day, I come across verses of Scripture I want to preach, proclaim, shout, or sing. Here is one: “An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin” (Psalm 36:1-2). This is such a good description of the sinfulness of the wicked. The wicked man cannot see, much less hate his own sin. The reason is that he flatters himself. This is the ultimate expression of selfishness and self-conceit. This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at TotheWord.com . We would love to have you reading with us.

Some time ago, I was struck by the Spiritual needs of three fathers in the New Testament and how their needs were met by Jesus Christ. ·        The first was a nobleman whose son was at the point of death (John 4:46-54). ·        The second was the Philippian jailor who was about to take his own life because his jail had fallen apart (Acts 16:22-40). ·        The third was Cornelius, a Roman army officer who was searching for God (Acts 10). All of their needs were urgent, desperate needs—so urgent that in each case the man sought help and got the help he wanted, and more, in a wonderful way. Here is something extra that blessed me in reading these paragraphs. “By this the father knew that it was at the very time when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son is living,’ and he himself, with all his household , believed in Jesus” (John 4:53). “Afterwards he took them up to his house and set bef...

Dear Friend, It has been several weeks since we have talked. In one of our more recent conversations, I promised you a letter. This is the beginning. Recently, in the car, I listened to two cassette tapes by Elisabeth Elliot entitled Me, Obey Him? I was so impressed with Betty’s graciousness and her strength. Actually, much of her talks were readings from a book called Me? Obey Him?: The Obedient Wife and God's Way of Happiness and Blessing in the Home by a classmate of hers from Wheaton College, Elizabeth Rice Handford. It has been my position, but it is more difficult for a man and a husband to teach it. I ordered six sets of the tapes and two of the books to give away. I have known for a long time your strong position on Scripture. Where you and I have differed has not been on the meaning of the text (any text) but on the application. In the teaching on these talks by Elisabeth Elliot, I am convinced that you will agree, and I hope you agree also on the application. No...

Dear Friend, As I understand it, you are convinced of your salvation because of the commitment you made to the Lord Jesus Christ many years ago. That could well be. When Jesus Christ saves, He does it for eternity. However, some of your relatives doubt your salvation or are convinced you are not saved. This is the main reason for my letter. I want to give you a list of biblical parameters that will help you know for a certainty one way or the other. The same will help others know of your salvation, but not with the same degree of certainty. I can be sure of my own salvation. I cannot be sure of someone else’s salvation in the same way. However, I can doubt someone else’s salvation without being guilty of “judging.” Here is why. 1 Corinthians 5:12 says, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside ? God will judge those outside.” The paragraph on judging is in Matthew 7:1-5: Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in...

Dear Friend, This letter is long overdue. It has been in my head for months. First, I think you know that I both love you and like you and respect you. If you do not know that, please take my word for it. You know that I am willing to be confronted without dissimulation. In the many years we have known each other, I have assumed you were a Christian. I do not have to know absolutely (God knows those who are His). You have had an interest and an education in Christianity. Even if you were not, or are not, a Christian, this does not affect my love, like, or respect for you. The last few times we have been together, you have assured me that any adultery was in the past and that you were ready to get right with the church and with your family and that you had repented toward God. You assured me that you loved your wife and your children and you were committed to them. I recognize that Christians can (and sometimes do) sin repeatedly. I also understand that it is possible for Chri...

Dear Friend, Thank you for listening to us. We both love you, and as I said we’ve been friends for a long time and have agreed with each other about many things. I am grateful for the friendship. You are right when you say I do not understand the hurt you have gone through for the last twenty years. I understand it in words, but not in experience. I have listened to you of your desires in marriage and of all the effort you put into the marriage. When I have talked to your wife, I have talked to her about her. It has been difficult to talk to you about you, at least on the subject of marriage. You have insisted on talking to me about her. 1. The last few years, you have been very angry and accusative toward your wife. Even if all of your accusations are true, your continued anger is unrepentant, unforgiven sin. You need to repent. 2. This anger has been building up for years, even though you were doing things a Christian husband should do. 3. In Luke 17:3, we have Jesus’...

“Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20). We are bombarded with “godless chatter” every day. In university towns like the ones we minister in, we are immersed in it. In all of this, there is some of God’s truth. People hear the part that is truth and consequently do not recognize the “godless chatter” for what it is. This makes the godless chatter even more dangerous. Nevertheless, Timothy was instructed to turn away from it. There are three ways to discern godless chatter: 1.      Know the wisdom of God very well. “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” ...

“The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)   This is one of the great verses of God’s character expressed toward us. Most of us know that He is with us, that He saves us, and that He loves us. But there are two additional expressions which cause me to wonder: “He will take great delight in you.” That ought to help any Christian with a “poor self-image.” God delights in me greatly! “He will rejoice over you with singing.” Most of us love to sing praises to Him with joy. Here it tells us that He also sings with joy over us. There is grandeur, wonder, and awe portrayed in Revelation 5:11-14 where a hundred million plus angels and every creature everywhere sing “to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” That is wonderful, but it is far more wonderful that God will sing with joy over me. This post coordinates with today's read...